


Constant Vigilance

by nikkiRA



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Post-Azkaban, technically fluff if you ignore the fact that they both tragically die later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 11:32:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3409007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikkiRA/pseuds/nikkiRA
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius tests Remus one day to ensure he's not secretly a Death Eater in disguise. He gets a little carried away.</p>
<p>“Ha ha! That proves it! The real Remus Lupin would know that my first love has always been one Minerva McGonagall.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Constant Vigilance

Remus lets himself into Grimmauld Place late one night – or is it early? – after being gone for two days. Dumbledore had work for him seemingly every day, some job or another that needed doing that inevitably kept him away from Number 12 for days on end. He loves helping the Order, truly; it makes him feel necessary and useful. But he can’t help but think of Sirius alone in that big house, lonely and scared and sad. When Sirius had run away all those years ago he had exclaimed to them in a happy voice that he would never have to go back there again, and now Remus is leaving him alone. He knows Sirius doesn’t blame him, but the way he clutches onto him whenever he gets back just makes him feel worse.

As he makes his way upstairs he can almost hear his bones creaking. He feels like he’s being run into the ground but he can’t just ask Dumbledore to give him a break, no matter what Sirius says. He’s helping the Order, something much more important than his joints.

When he tries to open the door of the bedroom they share when the house is empty he finds it is locked. Sirius had been expecting him and he is immediately worried.

“Sirius? Are you all right? What’s happening?” He has just pulled his wand out when he hears Sirius’ voice, light and playful and sounding very awake despite the late hour.

“You know, Moony,” his voice is loud through the door, and Remus knows he must be directly on the other side. “I’ve been thinking. It’s war again.”

“A remarkable observation coming from you.”

Sirius chooses to ignore this comment. “So how do I know this is really you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well how do I know you’re really Remus and not some nasty smelly Death Eater in disguise?”

“Sirius, I’m already in the house.”

“But not yet in the bedroom, so it appears I have all the power right now.”

_You always have,_ he can’t help but think.

“So what is your solution to this? Would you like me to strip naked?”

“That wouldn’t prove anything and you know it, you pervy asshole, but let’s come back to that later.” Remus smirks. “No, Moony, I’m going to ask you questions only you know the answer to.”

“Pads, I am exhausted –”

“Constant vigilance, Moony. I will never forgive myself if I sleep with a Death Eater.”

He laughs, and the pain in his muscles seems to dull. Being around Sirius always makes him feel like he’s sixteen again.

“Okay, fine, ask me your dumb questions.”

“Where was our first kiss?”

“Greenhouses.”

“Which one?”

“I don’t remember, it was dark and I was sixteen and slightly intoxicated.”

“The correct answer is actually Greenhouse #2.”

“Close enough.”

“Close enough is not enough in war times, Lupin. Where did we have sex for the first time?”

Remus leans his head against the door, smiling. “Greenhouse, again. You had a thing for Sprout, didn’t you?”

“Ha ha! That proves it! The real Remus Lupin would know that my first love has always been one Minerva McGonagall.”

“Ah yes, how silly of me.”

“I guess I have to ask you more questions. You can never be too careful.”

“Of course not.” He is enjoying this; it is fun and playful the way that they used to be and they are reliving the past in a way that’s not painful. Remus knows Azkaban took away many of Sirius’ memories; he is happy to know that he still remembers the details of their relationship.

“What is my favourite thing about you?”

“Er. I don’t know. That’s hardly a fair question, you always said something different.”

“You’re right, that’s not fair, it tends to change every day, I’ll write you out a schedule. Today, for the record, it is your penchant for cardigans.”

“Ah, yes. You always told me I dressed like an old man.”

“You’ve been an old man since the first day we met, Moony. Next question: when was the first time I told you I loved you?”

“It depends. The technical first time you got really drunk and tried to write it in the sky at two o clock in the morning and then you fell off your broom and got a concussion.”

“The real Remus Lupin would remember we agreed _never to mention that again.”_

“The second time was when you were in the hospital wing with said concussion and you looked straight at James and said “I love you, Remus,” which I don’t think really counts since it wasn’t even said to me.”

“Everyone made fun of me for _months.”_

“The third time was after I told you I loved you at breakfast and you got angry at me because you had wanted to be the one to say it first and then you stomped upstairs which I later learned was just a ploy to get me alone in the dormitory.”

“Which worked like a charm, to my credit.”

“Have I proved my authenticity yet?”

“I think there’s one more thing I need from you.”

“ _Sirius.”_

“I think we should return to that naked idea you had earlier.”

Remus grins. “Open the door and we will.”

Sirius opens the door and Remus gratefully enters the bedroom. Sirius closes the door and then pushes Remus up against it, hands already undoing his belt.

“Have I sufficiently proved I am not a Death Eater?”

“This will be your final test.”

Remus laughs as Sirius kisses along his jaw.

“What do I have to do for this final test?”

When Sirius smirks Remus is transported back, to all those happy memories he had, to all those years of Sirius smirking at him, all those happy moments just like this one, with Sirius pressed up against him and kissing down his neck. It seems impossible that he is here again, older and falling apart but with Sirius once again. All he’s ever wanted was a lifetime of Sirius’ stupid smirks and extravagant ways of expressing his love.

“The real Remus Lupin will know.”

When they’re finished, Sirius contends that yes, Remus is most definitely not a Death Eater in disguise.


End file.
